1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for controlling construction machines by judging an abnormality such as a failure of the construction machines and processing the abnormality, such as repairing, according to the judged result.
2. Description of the Related Art
Construction machines such as hydraulic excavators, dump trucks, bulldozers and wheel loaders are often operated continuously at a worksite in order to complete the construction within the construction term demanded by a contractor. Therefore, where a construction machine has an abnormality such as a failure, it is necessary to quickly make a repair or the like to make downtime as short as possible. Besides, it is difficult to provide an alternative construction machine into the worksite immediately because the construction machine costs high, its models and quantity kept in a motor pool and the models and quantity to be rent are limited.
At present, the construction machines require substantially the same maintenance cost (parts cost, wages, etc.) as the initial selling price, making the maintenance cost high.
Therefore, it is necessary to make an early and accurate judgment about an abnormality such as a failure which occurs in a construction machine and to make arrangements for parts soon and to repair swiftly, in order to reduce the maintenance cost and to improve the rate of operation at a construction site. For example, the maintenance cost can be reduced and the repair time can also be made short by properly changing or adjusting appropriate parts before the engine is heavily damaged.
Accordingly, it is conventional for a maintenance person (maintenance person) to go to the construction machine to visually check it or to connect a personal computer to it so to download data related to the construction machine written into the memory within the construction machine, thereby obtaining information (service meter""s clocking value, fuel consumption, engine speed, etc.) about the construction machine. Data collected from a plurality of construction machines are stored in the memory of the computer in Administration Department of a manufacturer of the construction machines to control the plurality of construction machines.
But, the aforesaid method has a disadvantage that collection of information is troublesome and an efficiency of collecting information is not good as the number of construction machine increases because information is collected manually.
Recently, it is seen in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8-144312 (hereinafter called the first publication) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-144312 (hereinafter called the second publication) that it is attempted to obtain information about construction machines automatically by communications means without depending on people.
The invention described in the first publication sends detected data of an operating state of a construction machine, an error code based on the detected data and an error code based on a visual inspection to Management Division of a manufacturer or the like through a communications device to show the error codes on a display screen on the side of Management Division, so that the abnormality of the construction machine is determined by a person, and a repair or the like is asked to a maintenance person.
Meanwhile, the second publication temporarily stores an error code based on the detected data of an operating state of a construction machine, and detected data immediately before the error code, namely snapshot data, into the memory mounted in the construction machine, sends the data stored in the memory to Management Division of a manufacturer or the like through a communications device, automatically judges the abnormality of the construction machine on the side of Management Division in view of the error code and the snapshot data, and requests a repair or the like to a maintenance person if the construction machine is judged abnormal.
According to the invention described in the first embodiment, the abnormality is judged depending on a person. Therefore, it has a disadvantage that the judgment is variable.
According to the invention described in the second publication, it does not have a disadvantage that the judgment is variable. But, because the abnormality is judged based on the error code and the snapshot data only, the judgment may not be made accurately. In other words, the error code and the snapshot data are data obtained from the detected values by the sensors disposed in the construction machine. But, the abnormality in the construction machine can be determined for the first time by combining the sensor-detected values, the visually checked results and the results of analyzing oil, etc.
Therefore, it is a first object of the present invention to enable an accurate judgment of the abnormality by adding information other than the sensor-detected values.
According to the inventions described in the first and second publications, the occurrence of an error code is basically judged that an abnormality has occurred.
But, the error code does not always mean an actual abnormality. In other words, the error code is generated by a controller within the construction machine. The controller is produced according to specifications so that it generates an error code even if the abnormality is minor in order to improve safety. For example, it is assumed that a construction machine has an overrun on a downward slope or the like. In this case, whenever the engine speed has over-revolutions, an error code indicating the overrun is generated even if the abnormality such as an engine damage or a brake damage has not occurred. And, it often happens that Management Division judges from the error code that there is an abnormality, and dispatches a maintenance person to the site, but the abnormality is not so serious as to require an urgent repair.
Conversely, when it is specified to generate an error code only when an abnormality actually occurs, the generation of the abnormality is not found previously, and the construction machine must be repaired after its breakdown, probably resulting in large downtime.
As described above, the prior art judges univocally whether there is an abnormality or not, so that is has disadvantages that a state with low urgency is judged abnormal and a state with high urgency is overlooked.
Therefore, it is a second object of the present invention to enable the judgment of an abnormality degree, namely a degree of urgency, and to enable proper processing of the abnormality according to the judged result.
The inventions described in the first and second publications judge an abnormality on the basis of information about a construction machine on the side of Management Division of a manufacturer or the like, and when it is judged abnormal, dispatches a maintenance person to the site to make a repair. In other words, the judged result as abnormal is information useful not only for Maintenance Division which makes a repair but also for Management Division, Sales Division and Production Division. Besides, abnormality-judging levels are different among Maintenance Division, Management Division, Sales Division and Production Division. For example, Maintenance Division needs to rush to the site to check an abnormality of a construction machine before the occurrence of a failure. Therefore, Maintenance Division needs information about even a slight abnormality. For Production Division, information about a miner abnormality is not significant but information about an abnormality with some seriousness is important because Production Division has to make a design change or the like. Management Division needs information about an abnormality having high possibility. Conversely, Maintenance Division may not make a repair quickly if information is limited to a serious abnormality. For Management Division, information about a minor abnormality is useless, and useful information might be disregarded as a result.
Thus, the level of information requested by the sides administering the construction machines is variable, and even if all information are given the administrators, such information cannot be used usefully but become useless depending on the levels of the administrators.
Transmission of all information univocally without sorting them results in increasing the communications cost.
Therefore, it is a third object of the present invention to give information which is really useful to the administrator and to reduce the communications cost.
According to the second publication, an abnormality of the construction machine is automatically judged.
But, it happens that what is judged abnormal is actually not abnormal, or what is not judged abnormal is actually abnormal. It is because data required for judging is insufficient or the contents of data do not comply with the actual situation.
The expert knowledge and technical level are variable among the sides administering the construction machines. For example, a designer of a manufacturer has an expert knowledge about the construction machines, but the user such as a rental company in general does not have an expert knowledge about the construction machines.
Therefore, where the judged result is obtained automatically and sent to the designer of the manufacturer or the user, the designer of the manufacturer can finally judge on the basis of the own knowledge whether the automatically judged result is appropriate or not and can take appropriate measures, but the user does not have a sufficient expert knowledge and must trust the automatically judged result. If the xe2x80x9cabnormalxe2x80x9d judgment is wrong, the user expends a useless labor, and if the xe2x80x9cnot abnormalxe2x80x9d judgment is wrong, there is a problem for the user that an appropriate step such as repairing is delayed.
The present invention was achieved in view of the aforesaid circumstances. And, it is a fourth object of the invention to enable to take appropriate measures by giving information appropriate to the technical level of the side administering the construction machines.
According to the inventions described in the first and second publications, the occurrence of an error code is basically judged as the occurrence of an abnormality.
But, the error code does not necessarily mean a real abnormality. For example, the construction machines such as a dump truck often operate in the same worksite. The construction machines operating in the same environment may generate an error code at the same time when the environment changes suddenly due to a sudden increase of the outside temperature and the sensor value reaches an abnormal value. Therefore, if the generation of an error code is judged as the abnormality of the construction machine, a change caused in all the construction machines due to a sudden change in environment is judged abnormal, and it might be different from the actual state.
Conversely, when a criterion for the generation of an error code is set to a high level to exclude a sudden change in environment, the occurrence of a real abnormality is not found previously, and it becomes necessary to repair after the construction machine suffers a breakdown, possibly resulting in large downtime.
Accordingly, it is a fifth object of the invention to make it possible to determine accurately whether the error code is generated due to a change in the environment or a real abnormality of the construction machine by comparing information obtained from a plurality of construction machines which are operating in the same environment.
In order to achieve the first object of the invention, the first aspect of the invention is directed to a control system for a construction machine which collects information from the construction machine, judges an abnormality of the construction machine on the basis of the collected construction machine information, and processes the abnormality of the construction machine when it is judged abnormal to control the construction machine, comprising:
first information collecting means which are disposed within the construction machine and detect internal information to collect first construction machine information;
second information collecting means which analyze a subject to be analyzed taken from the construction machine to collect second construction machine information;
third information collecting means which collect third construction machine information by visually judging the construction machine; and
abnormality degree judging means which judge an abnormality degree of the construction machine on the basis of a combination of all or two of the first to third construction machine information collected by the first to third information collecting means, wherein:
the abnormality of the construction machine is processed depending on the abnormality degree judged by the abnormality degree judging means.
The first aspect of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
According to the first aspect of the invention, inside information D1 (onboard information) is detected by a sensor group 41 disposed within construction machine 31 and collected as first construction machine information D1.
Oil analysis center 17 analyzes subject to be analyzed 310a (oil) taken from the construction machine 31 to collect second construction machine information D2 (oil analysis information).
A maintenance person collects third construction machine information D3 by visually judging the construction machine 31 through personal computer 19.
Server unit 11 of manufacturer 10 judges an abnormality degree of the construction machine on the basis of all or a combination of two of the first to third construction machine information D1, D2, D3 collected. Specifically, the abnormality degree is judged to be in which of a first stage to a fourth stage on the basis of the first construction machine information D1 indicating a blowby pressure and an exhaust temperature and the second construction machine information D2 indicating an oil analysis result (a mixed degree of iron Fe, and a mixed degree of silicon Si) as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b).
Thus, according to the first aspect of the invention, an abnormality can be judged accurately by adding information other than the sensor-detected value.
In order to achieve the second object, the second aspect of the invention is directed to a control system for a construction machine which collects information from the construction machine, judges an abnormality of the construction machine on the basis of the collected construction machine information, and processes the abnormality of the construction machine when it is judged abnormal to control the construction machine, comprising:
information collecting means which collect the construction machine information; and
information processing means which rank an abnormality degree of the construction machine in a plurality of levels on the basis of the construction machine information collected by the information collecting means, wherein:
the abnormality of the construction machine is processed on the basis of information indicating the abnormality degree ranked by the information collecting means.
The second aspect of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
Controller 40 of the construction machine 31 collects an error code which indicates an overrun for example.
And, the server unit 11 of the manufacturer 10 ranks the abnormality degree of the construction machine in each level of Rank 1 (Normal), Rank 2 (Warning), Rank 3 (Abnormal) and Rank 4 (Emergency) on the basis of the number of occurrences of the collected error code for the unit time.
The administrator of the construction machine 31 makes an inspection, a repair or the like of the construction machine on the basis of information indicating the ranked abnormality degree. Specifically, when the abnormality degree is in Rank 1 or Rank 2, a maintenance person can judge that it is not necessary to inspect or repair the construction machine 31, and when it is in Rank 3 or Rank 4, it can be judged for the first time that it is necessary to inspect or repair the construction machine 31.
Thus, according to the second aspect of the invention, the abnormality degree, namely the degree of urgency, can be judged, so that adequate processing of an abnormality can be made according to the judged result.
In order to achieve the second object, the third aspect of the invention is directed to a control system for a construction machine which collects information from the construction machine, judges an abnormality of the construction machine on the basis of the collected construction machine information, and processes the abnormality of the construction machine when it is judged abnormal to control the construction machine, comprising:
information collecting means which collect the construction machine information; and
a single or plurality of terminal devices which are disposed on the side of an administrator who processes the abnormality of the construction machine, wherein:
the information collecting means, the terminal devices and a server unit are communicably connected by communications means;
information processing means which rank an abnormality degree in a plurality of levels on the basis of the construction machine information are disposed on the server unit;
the construction machine information collected by the information collecting means is sent to the server unit through the communications means;
the information processing means of the server unit rank the abnormality degree of the construction machine in a plurality of levels on the basis of the sent construction machine information; and
the server unit responds to a request from the single or plurality of terminal devices and sends information indicating the ranked abnormality degree to the requested terminal device through the communications means.
The third aspect of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
According to the third aspect of the invention, the inside information D1 (onboard information) is detected by the sensor group 41 disposed within the construction machine 31 and collected as the first construction machine information D1.
The oil analysis center 17 analyzes the subject to be analyzed 310a (oil) taken from the construction machine 31 to collect the second construction machine information D2 (oil analysis information).
A maintenance person collects the third construction machine information D3 by visually judging the construction machine 31 through the personal computer 19.
The collected construction machine information D1, D2, D3 are sent to the server unit 11 of the manufacturer 10 through the communications means such as communications satellite 5.
For the collected construction machine information D1, D2, D3, the server unit 11 of the manufacturer 10 ranks the abnormality degree in each level of Rank 1 (Normal), Rank 2 (Warning), Rank 3 (Abnormal) and Rank 4 (Emergency).
In response to a request from terminal device 51, the server unit 11 sends information indicating the ranked abnormality degree to the requested terminal device 51 through the communications means such as the Internet 7.
Information about the ranked abnormality degree can be seen via the display screen of the terminal device 51 on the side of an administrator (maintenance person) of the construction machine 31, and it can be judged whether the construction machine 31 is checked, repaired or the like. Specifically, when the abnormality is in Rank 1 or Rank 2, the maintenance person can judge that it is not necessary to inspect or repair the construction machine 31, and when it is in Rank 3 or Rank 4, it can be judged for the first time that it is necessary to inspect or repair the construction machine 31.
Thus, according to the third aspect of the invention, the abnormality degree, namely the degree of emergency, can be judged, so that adequate processing of an abnormality can be made according to the judged result.
A fourth aspect of the invention relates to the second or third aspect of the invention, wherein the system is applied to control a plurality of construction machines, and the information processing means set a ranking criterion for each of the construction machines and rank for every construction machine according to the set criterion.
A fifth aspect of the invention relates to the second or third aspect of the invention, wherein the construction machine information is time-series data which is variable with the passage of time, and the information processing means rank an amount of change to an inclination, an absolute value or an initial value of the time-series data in a plurality of levels.
A sixth aspect of the Invention relates to the second or third aspect of the invention, wherein the construction machine information is an error code indicating an error occurred within the construction machine, and the information processing means rank a frequency of occurrence of the error code in a plurality of levels.
A seventh aspect of the invention relates to the second or third aspect of the invention, wherein the construction machine information is a compared result obtained by comparing an actual operating condition with a predicted value of an operating state of the construction machine, and the information processing means rank the compared result in a plurality of levels.
In order to achieve the third object, an eighth aspect of the invention is directed to a control system for a construction machine which collects information from the construction machine, judges an abnormality of the construction machine on the basis of the collected construction machine information, and processes the abnormality of the construction machine when it is judged abnormal to control the construction machine, comprising:
information collecting means which collect the construction machine information; and
a plurality of terminal devices which are disposed on the side of an administrator who processes the abnormality of the construction machine, wherein:
the information collecting means, the plurality of terminal devices and a server unit are communicably connected by communications means;
the information processing means, which rank an abnormality degree in a plurality of levels on the basis of the construction machine information and associate a rank of the abnormality degree to be sent with the plurality of terminal devices, are disposed on the server unit
the construction machine information collected by the information collecting means is sent to the server unit through the communications means;
the information processing means of the server unit rank the abnormality degree of the construction machine in a plurality of levels on the basis of the sent construction machine information and associate a rank of the abnormality degree to be sent with the plurality of terminal devices; and
the server unit responds to a request from the terminal device and sends abnormality degree information of a corresponding rank to the requested terminal device through the communications means.
The eighth aspect of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
According to the eighth aspect of the invention, the inside information D1 (onboard information) is detected by the sensor group 41 disposed within the construction machine 31 and collected as the first construction machine information D1.
The oil analysis center 17 analyzes the subject to be analyzed 310a (oil) taken from the construction machine 31 to collect the second construction machine information D2 (oil analysis information).
A maintenance person collects the third construction machine information D3 by visually judging the construction machine 31 through the personal computer 19.
The collected construction machine information D1, D2, D3 are sent to the server unit 11 of the manufacturer 10 through the communications means such as the communications satellite 5.
For the collected construction machine information D1, D2, D3, the server unit 11 of the manufacturer 10 ranks the abnormality degree in each level of Rank 1 (Normal), Rank 2 (Warning), Rank 3 (Abnormal) and Rank 4 (Emergency). And, Ranks 1, 2, 3, 4 of the abnormality degree are corresponded with the terminal device 51, Ranks 1, 2, 3, 4 of the abnormality degree are corresponded with the terminal device 51 of the maintenance person, Ranks 3, 4 of the abnormality degree are corresponded with the terminal device 52 of a sales person, and Rank 4 of the abnormality degree is corresponded with the terminal device 53 of the management side.
In response to a request from the terminal devices 51, 52, 53, the server unit 11 sends information indicating the corresponding ranked abnormality degree to the requested terminal devices 51, 52, 53 through the communications means such as the Internet 7.
Therefore, information about Ranks 1, 2, 3, 4 of the abnormality degree can be seen via the display screen of the terminal device 51 on the side of the maintenance person. Even a minor abnormality which belongs to a normal range can be seen. Therefore, the maintenance person can rush to the site to check an abnormality of the construction machine 31 before the occurrence of an actual failure. A sales person can see only information about Ranks 3, 4 of the abnormality degree via the display screen of the terminal device 52 on the side of the sales person. Therefore, the sales person can see only information about a serious abnormality. And, the management can see information about only Rank 4 of the abnormality degree via the display screen of the terminal device 53 on the side of the management. Therefore, only information about high possibility of occurrence of a failure can be seen. Conversely, there is a possibility that a repair or the like cannot be made swiftly even if only information about Rank 3 or 4 indicating serious abnormality information is given to the terminal device 51 of the maintenance person. Meanwhile, even if all information about Ranks 1, 2, 3, 4 including information about a minor abnormality are given to the terminal device 53 on the side of the management, they are useless information, resulting in that useful information might be disregarded.
Information is sorted before transmission, and all information are not sent univocally, so that the communications cost can be reduced.
Thus, according to the eighth aspect of the invention, only information really useful for the management side of the construction machine can be given, so that the communications cost can be suppressed.
In order to achieve the third object, a ninth aspect of the invention is directed to a control system for a construction machine which collects information from the construction machine, judges an abnormality of the construction machine on the basis of the collected construction machine information, and processes the abnormality of the construction machine when it is judged abnormal to control the construction machine, comprising:
information collecting means which collect the construction machine information; and
a plurality of terminal devices which are disposed on the side of an administrator who processes the abnormality of the construction machine, wherein:
the information collecting means, the plurality of terminal devices and a server unit are communicably connected by communications means;
information processing means, which processes into information according to a level of the administrator of the terminal device on the basis of the construction machine information, are disposed on the server unit;
the construction machine information collected by the information collecting means is sent to the server unit through the communications means;
the information processing means of the server unit processes the sent contraction machine information into information according to a level of the administrator of the terminal device; and
the server unit responds to a request from the terminal device and sends the processed information according to a level of the administrator of the requested terminal device to the requested terminal device through the communications means.
The ninth aspect of the invention provides the same effect as the eighth aspect of the invention.
A tenth aspect of the invention relates to the ninth aspect of the invention, wherein the server unit resends the processed information when data about the reception of the processed information is not sent back from the requested terminal device within a predetermined period.
An eleventh aspect of the invention is directed to a control system for a construction machine which collects information from the construction machine, judges an abnormality of the construction machine on the basis of the collected construction machine information, and processes the abnormality of the construction machine when it is judged abnormal to control the construction machine, comprising:
information collecting means which collect the construction machine information; and
a plurality of terminal devices which are disposed on the side of an administrator who processes the abnormality of the construction machine, wherein:
the information collecting means, the terminal devices and a server unit are communicably connected by communications means;
the server unit is provided with the information processing means which rank an abnormality degree in a plurality of levels on the basis of the construction machine information and storage means which rerank the rank of the abnormality degree made by the information processing means and store the reranked results;
the construction machine information collected by the information collecting means is sent to the server unit through the communications means;
the information processing means of the server unit rank the abnormality degree of the construction machine in a plurality of levels on the basis of the sent construction machine information;
the ranks of the abnormality degree made by the information processing means are reranked, and the reranked results are stored in the storage means; and
the server unit sends information indicating the reranked abnormality degree to the respective terminal devices through the communications means.
The eleventh aspect of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
According to the eleventh aspect of the invention, the inside information D1 (onboard information) is detected by the sensor group 41 disposed within the construction machine 31 and collected as the first construction machine information D1.
The oil analysis center 17 analyzes the subject to be analyzed 310a (oil) taken from the construction machine 31 to collect the second construction machine information D2 (oil analysis information).
A maintenance person collects the third construction machine information D3 by visually judging the construction machine 31 through the personal computer 19.
The collected construction machine information D1, D2, D3 are sent to the server unit 11 of the manufacturer 10 through the communications means such as the communications satellite 5.
For the collected construction machine information D1, D2, D3, the server unit 11 of the manufacturer 10 ranks the abnormality degree in each level of Rank 1 (Normal), Rank 2 (Warning), Rank 3 (Abnormal) and Rank 4 (Emergency).
Besides, ranking of the abnormality degree is reranked, and the reranked result is stored in storage means 12.
And, the server unit 11 sends information indicating the reranked abnormality degree to the respective terminal devices through the communications means such as the Internet 7.
For example, it is assumed that the data reranked from Rank xe2x80x9c4xe2x80x9d to Rank xe2x80x9c3xe2x80x9d is sent to terminal device 61 of lease/rental company 60 using the construction machines 31, 32. Then, measures such as the dispatch of a maintenance person can be avoided, and a useless labor is reduced.
Conversely, it is assumed that data reranked from Rank xe2x80x9c3xe2x80x9d to Rank xe2x80x9c4xe2x80x9d is sent to the terminal device 61 of the lease/rental company 60 using the construction machines 31, 32. Then, measures such as the dispatch of the maintenance person can be taken immediately to take an appropriate step such as repair or the like, so that the occurrence of downtime due to a failure of the construction machine can be avoided.
A twelfth aspect of the invention is directed to a control system for a construction machine which collects information from the construction machine, judges an abnormality of the construction machine on the basis of the collected construction machine information, and processes the abnormality of the construction machine when it is judged abnormal to control the construction machine, comprising:
information collecting means which collect the construction machine information; and
a plurality of terminal devices which are disposed on the side of an administrator who processes the abnormality of the construction machine, wherein:
the information collecting means, the terminal devices and a server unit are communicably connected by communications means;
the server unit is provided with information processing means which rank an abnormality degree in a plurality of levels on the basis of the construction machine information;
the construction machine information collected by the information collecting means is sent to the server unit through the communications means;
the information processing means of the server unit rank the abnormality degree of the construction machine in a plurality of levels on the basis of the sent construction machine information;
the server unit sends information indicating the ranked abnormality degree to a particular terminal device through the communications means;
the particular terminal device reranks the ranked abnormality degree for the sent information and sends to the server unit; and
the server unit sends information indicating the reranked abnormality degree to the respective terminal devices through the communications means.
The twelfth aspect of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, the inside information D1 (onboard information) is detected by the sensor group 41 disposed within the construction machine 31 and collected as the first construction machine information D1.
The oil analysis center 17 analyzes the subject to be analyzed 310a (oil) taken from the construction machine 31 to collect the second construction machine information D2 (oil analysis information).
The maintenance person collects the third construction machine information D3 by visually judging the construction machine 31 through the personal computer 19.
The collected construction machine information D1, D2, D3 are sent to the server unit 11 of the manufacturer 10 through the communications means such as the communications satellite 5.
For the collected construction machine information D1, D2, D3, the server unit 11 of the manufacturer 10 ranks the abnormality degree in each level of Rank 1 (Normal), Rank 2 (Warning), Rank 3 (Abnormal) and Rank 4 (Emergency).
Besides, the server unit 11 sends information indicating the ranked abnormality degree to particular terminal device 10a through the communications means.
The particular terminal device 10a reranks the ranking of the abnormality degree of the received information and sends it to the server unit 11, which in turn sends the information about the reranked abnormality degree to the respective terminal devices through the communications means such as the Internet 7.
For example, it is assumed that the data reranked from Rank xe2x80x9c4xe2x80x9d to Rank xe2x80x9c3xe2x80x9d is sent to the terminal device 61 of the lease/rental company 60 using the construction machines 31, 32. Then, measures such as the dispatch of a maintenance person can be avoided, and a useless labor is reduced.
Conversely, it is assumed that data reranked from Rank xe2x80x9c3xe2x80x9d to Rank xe2x80x9c4xe2x80x9d is sent to the terminal device 61 of the lease/rental company 60 using the construction machines 31, 32. Then, measures such as the dispatch of the maintenance person can be taken immediately to take an appropriate step such as repair or the like, so that the occurrence of downtime due to a failure of the construction machine can be avoided.
A thirteenth aspect of the invention relates to the eleventh or twelfth aspect of the invention, wherein:
the plurality of terminal devices are ranked in a plurality of levels;
the abnormality degree ranked by the information processing means of the server unit is reranked according to the levels of the terminal devices; and
the server unit sends the information about the reranked abnormality degree according to the levels of the terminal devices to the corresponding terminal device through the communications means.
According to the thirteenth aspect of the invention, when it is judged by an expert that the rank xe2x80x9c4 (Emergency)xe2x80x9d is actually xe2x80x9c3 (Abnormal)xe2x80x9d, this reranked data, namely xe2x80x9c3 (Abnormal)xe2x80x9d, is sent to the terminal device 61 of the lease/rental company 60. And data before the reranking, namely xe2x80x9c4 (Emergency)xe2x80x9d, is sent as it is to the terminal device 51 on the side of Maintenance Division.
Thus, a maintenance person can rush to the site to take measures so that the user operates the construction machine carefully. Therefore, downtime can be minimized because the construction machine can be operated until the maintenance person arrives. And, the maintenance person can rush to the site to check whether the expert""s judgment is correct or not and report the result to the manufacturer. Thus, according to the thirteenth aspect of the invention, more appropriate measures can be taken as compared with the case of sending the reranked result to the respective terminal devices univocally.
A fourteenth aspect of the invention is directed to a control system for construction machines which collects information from a plurality of construction machines which operate in the same environment, judges an abnormality of the plurality of construction machines on the basis of the collected construction machine information, and processes the abnormality of the construction machines when they are judged abnormal to control the construction machines, comprising:
information collecting means which collect the construction machine information; and
abnormality judging means which select the same kind of information from the construction machine information collected by the information collecting means, compare a value indicated by the same type of information among the plurality of construction machines, and judge a construction machine having a particular value as abnormal, wherein:
the construction machine which is judged as abnormal by the abnormality judging means is processed for its abnormality.
The fourteenth aspect of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 35(a) and 35(b).
The same kind of information, e.g., trend data of a blowby pressure, is selected from the construction machine information collected by information collecting means of construction machines 31a, 31b, 31c, and the values indicated by the same kind of information are compared among the plurality of construction machines 31a, 31b, 31c. And, the construction machine 31a indicating a peculiar value is judged to be abnormal. For example, the trend data of the construction machine 31a increases sharply from service meter value SMR1 as shown in FIG. 35(a). But, the trend data of the other construction machines 31b, 31c have the same tendency as the dump track 31a in terms of the xe2x80x9csharp increase from the service meter value SMR1xe2x80x9d. Thus, it is judged that the abnormality of the construction machine 31a results from a change in the environment of the worksite and a possibility that it is an abnormality peculiar to the construction machine 31a is low. And, it is finally determined that no abnormality has occurred, and the ranking is changed from xe2x80x9c4 (Emergency)xe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9c3 (Abnormal)xe2x80x9d.
Conversely, where only trend data about the single construction machine 31a shows a tendency to increase sharply from the service meter value SMR1 and the other construction machines 31b, 31c do not have a tendency to increase sharply as shown in FIG. 35(b), it is judged that the abnormality of the construction machine 31a is highly possible to be an abnormality inherent in the construction machine 31a. It is finally judged that the abnormality of Rank 4 has occurred, and the ranking xe2x80x9c4 (Emergency)xe2x80x9d made by the server unit 11 is maintained.
As described above, according to the fourteenth aspect of the invention, by comparing information collected from a plurality of construction machines which operate in the same environment, it can be judged accurately whether the abnormality results from the environment or a real abnormality of the construction machine.